Ian Donaldson is a Scottish singer and writer. Donaldson's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of new wave band H₂O, which released two UK Top 40 hits in 1983 with the singles " I Dream to Sleep" and " Just Outside of Heaven". After the band's break-up, he pursued a solo career and played in a band called FourGoodMen. Donaldson released his debut novel, ''A Rainbow in the Basement'', in 2016. In 2018, he released his debut solo studio album, ''From Stars We Came'' on Toy Town Records. Two sold-out concerts in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

commemorated his official return to the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

Early life

Donaldson grew up in Govan, Glasgow, and showed early interest in music. He studied Art & Design in Glasgow, and by age 16 he was singing in the band 8 Miles Out.

Career

Trying to stand out from other bands in the area, Donaldson formed the punk band Skroo with Alan McGee, where he also performed as lead singer. The band performed its first gig from the back of a lorry at the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

(CND) Rally in

Elder Park Elder Park is a public open space in the city of Adelaide, South Australia on the southern bank of the River Torrens and that is bordered by the Adelaide Festival Centre and North Terrace, Adelaide, North Terrace. It is part of Park 26 of t ...

, and went on to be a local success, playing gigs at the Mars Bar in Glasgow. The band signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

and played on the TV music show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. After Donaldson left Skroo, he founded H₂O with Davie Wells (guitar), Colin Ferguson (bass), Ross Alcock (keyboards), Kenny Dorman (drums) and Colin Gavison (saxophone). In 1981, the band released its first single "Hollywood Dream". H₂O signed with RCA in 1983, and made the Top 20 UK charts with their single " I Dream to Sleep". The band released their sole studio album ''

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

'' in 1984. H₂O broke up in 1988 over creative differences, but reunited periodically for one-off gigs. After H₂O disbanded, Donaldson went on to pursue a solo career. He also played in a band called FourGoodMen with

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although they have retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music inc ...

's guitarist Bruce Watson, former

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

bassist Derek Forbes and keyboardist Mick MacNeil. The group released an album in 2006 titled ''Heart of Winter: 2006 Tour Sampler''. In September 2016, Donaldson released a debut novel titled ''A Rainbow in the Basement''. In February 2018, Donaldson released his debut solo studio album, ''From Stars We Came''. The album got an official launch at Websters Theatre in Glasgow, which saw two nights of concerts with a full band.

Discography

With H₂O

Solo

Studio album Singles

Bibliography

*''A Rainbow in the Basement'' (I Dream Books, 2016)

References

External links

* * * 21st-century Scottish male singers Scottish new wave musicians Scottish tenors British male new wave singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Scottish male singers {{UK-singer-stub